On Saturday, Nov. 2, the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame celebrated the induction of the 2024 Hall of Fame class, which featured notable Pennsylvanians like former Villanova Wildcats head coach Jay Wright, NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Andre Reed, legendary sports journalist Ray Didinger, and many more.
For 62 years, the PA Sports Hall of Fame has honored Pennsylvanians who achieve greatness in the sports world, including athletes, coaches, media members and more. With 28 chartered chapters serving over 300 communities throughout Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame also honors the scholastic, collegiate, community service, and courageous athlete awards within those communities. This Saturday’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony marked the 61st in the history of the PA Sports Hall of Fame.
The complete list of inductees included longtime sportswriter, radio personality, sports commentator, author and screenwriter Ray Didinger, former NFL running back Mike Guman, Paralympian Stephanie Jallen, who brought home the bronze medal for the US in 2014, five-time MLB All-Star Mike Mussina, former Houston Oiler, Cincinnati Bengal, and Pittsburgh Steeler Bo Orlando, former Penn State men’s basketball coach Bruce Parkhill, former NBA center David Popson, Hall of Fame wide receiver Andre Reed, golfer Carol Semple Thompson, and former Villanova Men’s basketball head coach and two-time NCAA Division I Championship winner Jay Wright.
Posthumous inductees included Jim Braxton and Jacob Daubert. Braxton, a long-time NFL fullback who frequently blocked for O.J. Simpson. In his own words, Simpson described Braxton as vital to his success. Daubert, meanwhile, was a former World Series champion, NL MVP, and two-time NL batting champion.
Ahead of their official induction into the Hall of Fame, Metro Philadephia spoke with several of the inductees.
“This is a fun night,” Jay Wright told Metro Philadelphia. “There’s a lot of a lot of really interesting people for me that are getting inducted at the same time. Mike Guman was my favorite Penn State football players, and Dave Popson. I remember when I was at Bucknell. He was a senior in high school. I remember following his high school career and Bo Orlando, the Berwick teams. I’d follow them when I was in high school. So it’s a cool night.”
Wright, a Bucks County native, fell in love with the game of basketball at the young age of six, when he joined his first organized team. Since then, he continued to play through high school and his collegiate years at Bucknell University. After college, Wright was an assistant coach at Rochester, Drexel, Villanova, and UNLV before returning to Villanova to cement his legacy in Pennsylvania sports.
“When I left with Coach Massimino, when he took the UNLV job, and I went out with him to UNLV, Patty and I were just married, and we were moving out west, and we just thought, in your coaching career, this is what you do,” Wright said. “You’re probably never going to be able to come back home again. We’re going out west. Where is that going to lead us from there?”
“I really never thought I’d be fortunate enough to get back. I always thought, and so did Patty, if we’re going to be in this coaching business, we’re going to have to go wherever the job is, which is what most, most coaches do. So that’s the blessing of being able to coach at Villanova, as great a spot as it is, to be able to coach in your hometown, it’s just unheard of in college basketball.”
Wright wasn’t the only inductee in awe, looking back on the opportunity to live their dream in their home area. Ray Didinger famously fell in love with sports, namely football, by watching legendary Philadelphia Eagles running back Tommy McDonald—whom he eventually formed a professional relationship and friendship with. Didinger discussed his name being included in the PA Sports Hall of Fame.
“When you think about something like the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, you think of it in terms of Wilt Chamberlain, Dan Marino, Joe Montana, Kobe Bryant, John Cappelletti. I mean, that’s what you think the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame is about. So how I figure in there? I couldn’t tell you, but it’s just a very nice feeling to be there.”
Named Pennsylvania Sportswriter of the Year five times, winner of six Keystone Press Association awards for writing and reporting, and being named to the writer’s honor roll at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Didnger is undoubtedly deserving of the honor, although you’ll ever hear him pat himself on the back for it.
When asked about becoming the first print journalist to be inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame—Didinger is also the first print journalist to be inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame, Didinger explained his respect for his those who came before him and worked alongside him gives this honor even further meaning.
“It really makes you think because, in Pennsylvania, there have been a lot of really good sports writers, a lot. In Philadelphia, [the] same way. The Bill Lyons, Stan Hockman, Larry Merchant, going back in the day, and out in western Pennsylvania, same way. I mean, Pat Livingston and Phil Musick and people like that, really, really good. People who were among the best at what they did. So to think that I got into the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame, that I was the first, is very meaningful to me because of the level of respect I have for those guys.”
For legendary wide receiver Andre Reed, being named to a Hall of Fame is nothing new, but that doesn’t make it any less special.
“This was number seven,” Reed told Metro Philadelphia. “Seventh Hall of Fame, and then I have a street park and a field named after me, too. This is all from a kid that grew up pretty rough and had some rough times, family-wise. But if it wasn’t for sports, and you know, coaches and mentors and people like that, I wouldn’t be sitting here talking about it.”
“I think every one of them has its own definitive kind of thing. They’re all Hall of Fames, but they’re all different. Obviously, the NFL one is the coup de grâce, but this one is like right underneath it, if not 1a, 1b, because it’s your whole state. This is where you started. This is where you started your journey. That’s the special part about this one.”
Reed credited his upbringing in Pennsylvania as a major factor in his becoming the player that he was and, more importantly, the person that he is today.
The impact that Pennsylvania had on these inductees was evident when speaking to them. However, the impact they have had on the state of Pennsylvania is the reason they were honored Saturday night. It was a joyous night of celebration and remembrance as Pennsylvania—one of the premier sports states across the nation—honored some of its greatest sons and daughters who have had a profound impact on the sports world.
